AN Aston Martin Lagonda tailor-made for Prince Philip and fitted with an extra vanity mirror for the Queen to adjust her hat is predicted to fetch up to £450,000 at auction.

The Aston Martin Lagonda is expected to fetch up to £450,000 at auction

The 1954 four-seater convertible, finished in a bespoke shade of Edinburgh Green matched to grey leather upholstery, was used by Philip to drive to polo matches and to drop a young Prince Charles off at Cheam prep school.

His pride and joy from 1954 until 1961, it was fitted with the ultimate mobile luxury of the time - a radio telephone that allowed the Duke of Edinburgh to speak to Buckingham Palace via a Pye relay station in north London.

Philip was said to have taken great delight in making surprise calls to his wife and also in disguising his voice while chatting to Charles and Princess Anne at home.

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The Lagonda 3-Litre Drophead Coupe was once loaded aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia for Philip’s lengthy Commonwealth tour of 1956-57 and used by the Duke when he opened the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956.

The 3-Litre is also featured in several Pathe News films and countless newspapers and magazines from the period.

Philip, who was often seen in the car at polo matches at Cowdray Park in Midhurst, West Sussex, finally got rid of it in 1961 when he replaced it with an Alvis TD21 Drophead Coupe and took the original number plate with him.

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It was fitted with a radio telephone - a luxury at the time

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The car won Aston Martin Lagonda its first Royal Warrant from Philip

The car, which won Aston Martin Lagonda its first Royal Warrant from Philip, is being sold by only its third private owner, who wishes to remain anonymous.

It is estimated to fetch between £350,000 and £450,000 - up to four times what a 1954 model without royal connections would normally be worth.

Damian Jones, of H&H Classics, which is hosting the auction at IWM Duxford in Cambridgeshire on April 20, said: “This car is part of our history.

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The 1954 four-seater convertible was fitted with grey leather upholstery

“There is an amusing story about Prince Philip driving Her Majesty through London in this car and being held up by a policeman on point duty directing traffic.

“When the policeman saw who was in the Lagonda he did a double take and swiftly waved them on.”

He added: “Because it was such an early car telephone, the Admiralty gave the Duke his own frequency and apparently he delighted in calling the Queen on random occasions. He used to put (on) a silly voice if speaking to Charles or Anne.”